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Hints on where to hunt for books in Florence For the true Bookworm
[Jane Whittle]
Every year thousands of young people come to Florence to attend a year abroad programme at one of the American Universities in Florence. If you are among them, you’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of bookshops in Florence specialized in foreign literature. So there is no need to delve among the shelves in dark and dusty libraries, you only need to take our advice to find just the right bookshop to suit your own particular requirements.One of the oldest bookshops in Florence is the BM Bookshop in Borgognissanti. Founded fifty years ago, it contains a really important selection of Anglo-American texts. Here you can find plenty of books on the Italian Renaissance, history, folklore and cookery as well as novels, and a great many books that are unobtainable in the States. Check it out! (Borgognissanti 4 - tel. 055.294575).
Nearby, the Librarie Francaise de Florence located in the beautiful Palazzo Lenzi in Piazza Ognissanti 1r specialises in French books and will be pleased to order books for you from any publisher in France (tel. 055.212659).
Of course there are plenty of large stores that offer an enormous choice of books in several languages but, like most students, you may need just to consult rather than actually buy. In this case you can go to the National Central Library in Piazza Cavalleggeri, 1 (tel. 055.249191), which contains or has access to over 5 million books and manuscripts and presumably can satisfy any request! It offers a library information service, consultation and loans and is open weekdays from 8.15am-7pm and Saturdays from 8.15am-1.30pm. www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it Entrance is free.
The Gabinetto G. P. Vieusseux Literary and Scientific Library is another rich source for consultation nd loans. Housed in historic Palazzo Strozzi in Piazza Strozzi (tel. 055.215990), it owns about 30 thousand books and documents in various languages. http://www.vieusseux.fi.it/
Florence is full of historic libraries that can offer a wealth of information for specialist studies. Apart from the University and Museum libraries, investigate the French, German and Dutch University Libraries and, for books in English, the Harold Acton Library and Cultural Centre of the British Institute of Florence on Lungarno Guicciardini (tel. 055.26778270), open weekdays from 9.45am to 1pm and from 3 to 6.30pm. www.britishinstitute.it
The choice is yours!
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http://www.vieusseux.fi.it/
http://www.britishinstitute.it
http://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it